Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1887-07-29
The Battle Of Waterloo.

leon Bonaparte signed the abdication OF
the French throne for himself and fam
lily ut FOntainebleu near Paris, and land.
ed on the 4th Of May, near Elba, an is
land near Italy. By the decree of the
allied powers, the Emperors of Russia,
Napoleon retained the title Of Emperor
and received a pension of two million
francs.
In the great quietness Napoleon seemed
to pass the time, till the 9th of Febru-
ary, 1915, he put 400 of his old guard,
who had followed him into exile, and
some Polish lancers on board 4 brig
and landed the next day near Cannes,
France. Only the night before his de-
parture he acquainted Generals Bert
rand and Drouet with his plans.
Finding no resistance but only un-
bounded enthusiastic welcome, he
marched into Paris and the Moniteur as
tonished the Parisians on the morning
of the 2lst of March with the announce
ment: "The King louis XVIID left
Paris last night; the Emperor arrived
last night at o'clock at his Palace of
the Tulleries."
All the propositions of peace on the
side of Napoleon were rejected, and
Russia, England, Austria and Prussia
formed an alliance for the purpose OF
upholding the conditions of the first
treaty of Paris, and that meant the re-
storing of the Bourbons to the throne of
France.
With incredible energy Napoleon pre-
pared for war, and by the middle of
June had an army of two hundred thou
sand men organized.
Neither Lord Wellington, command
er of the English forces, nor Blucher,
who was commanding the Prussian
army, expected to be first attacked; but
as Napoleon's brother-in-law, Murat'
commenced hostiities in Italy by at
tacking the Austrians, the theatre ol
war seemed to be there.
On the 18th of June, Napoleon, with
l30, 900 men, suddenly marched north
ward and appeared in front of the Prus-
slams under BluchCr. Although the
General could collect only $4,000 men,
accepted the challenge and, on the l6:h
of June, fought the battle of Liguy.
After losing y 900 men he was obliged
to retreat from the battlefield; but this
retreat was not directed eastward rs Ma
poleon surmised, but northward, to be
nearer Wellington. Only $4,000 Prus-
SLAMS under Theilmann opposed the
French, and Marshal Grauchy with &c.
900 men was ordered to pursue the
Prussians, which was vigorously exc
cuted on the 18th.
On the same day of the battle OF Lig-
ny, on the 10th, Marshal Ney with 49,
600 men attacked the English forces
near Quatrebras 20 prevent Wellington
from aiding the Prussians. The En-
glish although losing heavily held their
ground, ard Ney retreated to join Ma
poleOn.
On the 18th Napoleon moved all his
effective forces forward on the road to
Brussels, and formed his line OF battle
opposite the camp of Mons Saint Jean,
where Wellington had collected all the
men he could bring together, and placed
them in order.
The battle of Waterloo was foughtSon
Sunday, June IS, 1915, commencing at
IL o'clock, and ending at 8 o'clock in the
night with the complete rout of the
French. Waterloo is a small village
two miles north of the battlefield, and
gave only the name of this engagement
because the first dispatches were dated
from this place. Lord Wellington used
10 designate it as the battle OF Mons st.
Jean (the mount or hill of Saint john.
The French and Prussians call it the
battle OF La Belle Alliance.
The battlefield was free from villages,
only the English had in their centre two
farm houses, La Haye Sainte and Houge-
mont, built of stone and having large
gardens enclosed with stone walls. What
must strike everybody is the narrow
compass of ground in which two such
large armies were engaged and so ter
rible a slaughter took place. 1t was not
a battle but massacre.
Lord Wellington commanded $1,000
men, consisting of English, Scotch, Irish,
Hollarders (Dutch). Belgians, Hano-
verians, Nassaners and Germans. His
left wing was composed entirely of Ger
mans under Gen. Alten; his right en-
tirely of Hollanders. His center Occu-
pying Hougemont and La Haye Sainte,
where Stotch, Irish and English, with
the exception OF the defenders OF La
Have, who were four hundred Hanover
ians.
Napoleon had $1,000 men and Occu-
piel a position opposite Wellington's
lines, uninterrupted by bush, house or
stream. 1t had been raining incessant-
ly on the two days previous; in the
morning of the 18th there was heavy
shower from five 10 half past six
o'clock; during the day also it rained
occasionally. The clayey, sticky soil
of the battlefield prevented the moving
of. artillery, ard Napoleon delayed the
action till IL o'clock in the morning.
The sun had come out brilliantly and
the grourd became firmer.
Precisely at IL o'clock three signal
shots at Belle Alliance announced the
order of Napoleon TO go forward, and